This is kind of a personal …duh … moment for me.

I was always bothered by the fact the footage we get to see that was shot on the stationary cameras, or the mini-dv's, the FLIR  or even Barry's wonder-cam looked so poor. Even the crappy EVP audio we hear should be better from the little recorders

DUH … this IS a TV show

If this footage were to be shown directly, not rerecorded by the production crew from the GH monitors, the equipment would have had to be setup, used, and torn down by TV production UNION members !

I'm sure many other regulations come into play, such as the 60 minute meal break every 6 hours on location.   That alone could explain what seems to be short investigation time at some of the smaller locations like homes. Wrap it in 6 hours and you don't have to pay for an extra hour and the catering truck.

I'm speculating … anyone have real knowledge in this area ?

I'd be curious how it covers things like the night when Grant's picture frame moved … did he get paid all night ?   Could the minor cast members who we didn't see find anything actually go off the clock instead of "investigating on their own" ?  When they are reviewing the evidence off camera, are S&T paid as if they were researchers or writers ?  ( I'm sure they don't pay a camera crew to stand around for 10 hours waiting to film 30 seconds of "what the frig is that" )

If S&T are not doing research and writing, just what is it that they point out and turn over to J&G to be used as the basis for the end of the show ?

Do you seriously consider that they had a cameraman in the trailer with Steve and Brian for 10 hours filming so that they could catch the "ah ha" moment when Brian finds the ghost shot – or just maybe that little sequence was recreated ( acted out ) again for the camera later ? 

Not quite "reality" television.

If the producers are willing to call that reality and we are willing to accept that re-creation of events, why not a re-creation of Grant jumping back and saying " I just saw a floating head there " or I just felt a tug on my arm" ?  

What's the difference ?

Surely Steve and Brian did not know exactly how they were positioned or exactly what they said, so we allow the re-creation to be based on their perception of the event, filtered through what will look good on screen.

Why would the producers think they could not take the same liberties with Grant ?

Doctor,

I'm not sure why you think because there are scripted and re-created moments this is not considered "reality tv".  Do you really think that any "reality tv" show is not scripted to some point?  If you listen to anyone from a "reality tv" show they tell you they show only what they want you to see and do re-create moments for filming.  In fact, I have heard a number of people say they had to re-create the event over and over to get it just right for tv.  They are also given direction and told, in some cases, told exactly what to say and what to do.

No, I do not believe in any fashion that they just happen to have a cameraman there for 10 hours waiting to catch Steve, Tango or Brian find "evidence" but that does not mean the show is not considered "reality tv".  I defer to Nosfer who has examined more closely the time it takes for the footage they shoot vs. their review time.  Also, Nosfer's point about J&G just happening to be the Yukon at the precise moment Robb calls from Europe is absolutely perfect proof of how they set up shots.  No one really believed that, did they?

FYI, the show is promoted as "reality tv" by Sci Fi and Pilgrim also calls it a "docusoap".  Here's a description that was written of "realilty tv", a "docusoap" and GH:

"Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors.  Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the term reality television is most commonly used to describe programs of this genre produced since 2000."

Reality television frequently portrays a modified and highly influenced form of reality, utilizing sensationalism to attract viewers to generate advertising profits.  Participants are often placed in exotic location or abnormal situations, and are sometimes coached, to act in certain scripted ways by off-screen "story editors" or "segment producers," with the portrayal of events and speech manipulated and contrived to create an illusion of reality through editing and other post-production techniques."

"In many reality television shows, the viewer and the camera are passive observers following people going about their daily personal and professional activities; this style of filming is often referred to as "fly on the wall" or "Factual television". Often "plots" are constructed via editing or planned situations, with the results resembling soap operas — hence the term docusoap or docudrama. In other shows, a cinéma vérité style is adopted, where the filmmaker is more than a passive observer—their presence and influence is greatly manifest."

"Within documentary-style reality television are several subcategories or variants:

Supernatural

Started by MTV's Fear in 2000, supernatural reality shows place participants into frightening situations which involve the paranormal. The stated aim is investigation, but in actuality, the sub-category thrives on generating fear in the audience and participants. In general, shows follow the stylized pattern established by MTV's Fear: opening setting up the location; grainy archival footage cut quickly together; night vision cameras; surveillance cameras; hand held cameras; odd angles; subtitles establishing place and time through out the episode; large abandoned locations; desaturated imagery; rapid fire, MTV editing; non-melodic soundtracks; only filming at night; minimal camera crew; or no crew if the participants film themselves. Some series use the game show format wherein contestants are challenged to survive the investigation, thus win money; while others use a recurring crew of paranormal researchers.

The sub-category also encompasses Celebrity Paranormal Project, Paranormal State and Ghost Hunters, among others. A variant dispenses with supernatural overtones and aims solely at inciting fear or aversion in the cast. Fear Factor and Scare Tactics follow this varient."

"Several former reality show participants have spoken publicly about their experiences and the strategies used on reality shows. Irene McGee from The Real World Seattle has done public speaking tours about the negative and misleading aspects of reality TV. In 2004, VH1 aired a program called Reality TV Secrets Revealed, which detailed various misleading tricks of reality TV producers. This VH1 show revealed that The Restaurant and Survivor had at times recreated incidents that had actually occurred but were not properly recorded by cameras to the required technical standard, or had not been recorded at all. In order to get the footage, the event was restaged for the cameras. Other shows (notably Joe Millionaire) combined audio and video from different times, or from different sets of footage, to create an artificial illusion of time chronology that did not occur, and a misportrayal of participant behaviors and actions."

Here's an article you should read (also see my post in "Sheetie") about the WGA and reality tv:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53032-2004Aug9.html

Doctor,

Good points.    We'll have to stay tuned I guess.

Maybe our  new "good friend" Meat Loaf will clue us in! 

Nosfer said:

I'll take this one step further. What do you think about them doing the exact same thing when they film the "Kris fills them in on where they are going as they banter back and forth on walkie talkies in the Yukons" scenes? One quick day to film each setup all at once?

It could work – you could include the "putting the equipment in the truck" snips also.

BTW – remember the scene in NY when the guy snatched the silver Pelican case and they chased him down the block ?   I've been keeping an eye open and I've never seen them using that type of case. My guess would be that they needed something smaller and easier to handle then the big black ones they use for TAPS gear and borrowed that from the production crew.

Nope – Why would he even be there to begin with ?

I really don't think they would expect the investigation to be as lame as it was, and have brought him along having planned the whole thing in advance. 

My guess is that they filmed the snatch scene after the review turned up nothing they could twist into any form of evidence.

If I recall, that was supposed to have happened as they arrived – If it was actually filmed later, there might be some difference in, say, the clothing the girls are seen wearing in the car going there and what they have on during the heist.  Whoever would be in charge of continuity might have let something slip through.

Mugs -   Good analysis – For those that have the time, a critical examination of the clothing issue could prove interesting.

Might I suggest you start a new thread specifically on this topic to post results ?

Having them all in one place would allow anyone who investigates this to coordinate their efforts.